Event

THE VIKINGSDirected by Richard Fleischer 1958The second and final collaboration between Kirk Douglas and director Richard Fleischer (Walt Disney's sublime 20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA was the first) stars one-eyed Douglas and his half-brother Tony Curtis as Vikings competing for the recently captured Janet Leigh, both reporting to their totally unhinged father Ernest Borgnine. Shot in color and CinemaScope in Norway by the great Jack Cardiff (THE RED SHOES, THE AFRICAN QUEEN), THE VIKINGS is a whirlwind spectacle built for the big screen in the same class as THE TEN COMMANDMENTS and AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 DAYS (though much shorter). The interiors are even better, including a drunken feast in the great hall (complete with an axe-throwing competition) that prompted the New York Times to call the film "the best advertisement for beer-drinking since the breweries put wrestling on TV." Orson Welles narrates. (JA)

116 min Bavaria Film 35mm from Park Circus

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ABOUT THE NORTHWEST CHICAGO FILM SOCIETY

The Northwest Chicago Film Society makes rare and classic films available to local audiences in their original formson 35mm and 16mm motion picture film. Our screenings spotlight the restoration efforts of archives, studios, and private collectors, as well as the experience of seeing films projected in a theater with an audience.

Through program notes, blog entries, and introductory remarks before each screening, the Northwest Chicago Film Society endeavors to bring new notions of the cultural and material history of cinema to the public. The Northwest Chicago Film Society is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. It was founded in 2011.